Skybolt Fasteners

Hi all,
I am getting ready to rivet on the forward fuselage skins and I was planning on using the Skybolt fastener system for my cowling. Obviously I will need to add some additional material out from the firewall when I rivet the skins on. I guess what I am aksing is :
1) What kind of aluminum would you suggest that I use to extend from the firewall for mounting the recepticles? (i.e. grade and thickness).
2) How far out should I extend from the firewall?
3) Could some people post some pics on how they have done this, I saw a plane at oshkosh that had material out where the recpeticle was and that was it, to conserve weight.
I looked through the previous posts but I could not find much discussion on how the fasteners were mounted.
Thanks for the help.

You may start from here http://home.comcast.net/~jwdweb2/Cowl1/cowl1.html

some useful info on Jeff's site http://jeffsrv-7a.com/COWLING/06-08-06.htm

Josh,
I used .063" 6061T6 for the strips and they polished well. You could use 2024 but the alclad will probably wear badly in this application and it corrodes easily when the alclad wears off. The top cowling will bend the strips up slightly at speed due to the ram air pressure if you are not careful. Don't remove too much material between fasteners as this will let the aluminum flex too much. I would place the edge of the camlock about 1/2 inch from the rear edge of the cowling to reduce the leverage on the mounting strip. I used camlocks only on the top cowling of my RV-8. Thirteen were used and I think that is about right.

Skybolt will sell you a whole kit including the strips

Josh,
I have a friend that was going to use Skybolt (or CamLocks, I can't remember which). He changed his mind but not before he fabricated the whole system for his -8. I'm pretty sure he wants to sell it all. I'll give him a call and make him aware of your plan.
JB

Fasteners

Josh,
Let me know if you can't hook up with your buddy. I think I have a set of Skybolt fasteners I didn't use. Since I've been flying the airplane for two years and have it torn down for paint this summer, it is very doubtful that I am going to install them now.
Tango Sierra

Josh,
I have photos and description here http://www.rv-8a.net/2008.htm - scroll down to 9 Nov and later.
Stan Sutterfield

Skybolt instructions

Josh, I happened to read the Skybolt instructions just last night. They recommend that the aluminum strip should provide one inch of overlap with the cowl, and that the fasteners should be installed five-eights of an inch from the edge of the cowl. I purchased mounting strips from Skybolt when I bought the fasteners. They supplied 0.060 thick 2024 aluminum strips that are more than wide enough for trimming to the required width.

I believe you can download a copy of the instructions from the website. You'll want a copy...they provide a lot of useful info.